McCrea, Louisiana | |
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Coordinates: 30°52′09″N91°47′22″W / 30.86917°N 91.78944°W Coordinates: 30°52′09″N91°47′22″W / 30.86917°N 91.78944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Louisiana |
Parish | Pointe Coupee |
Elevation | 39 ft (12 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP code | 70715 |
Area code(s) | 225 |
GNIS feature ID | 543457 [1] |
FIPS code | 22-46965 |
McCrea is an unincorporated community on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River in the northwestern portion of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located along Louisiana Highway 417, some distance north of East Krotz Springs. A post office opened here in 1902 but was discontinued in 1954.
The community is named for Bob McCrea, an early settler who developed a plantation at the site prior to the Civil War.
McCrea is famous as the location of the last levee breach or "crevasse" of the Great Flood of 1927. As the high water of that year accumulated within the Atchafalaya River to unprecedented heights, authorities were concerned that the Mississippi River itself was attempting to shift its channel into that of the Atchafalaya. Some 2,000 men - free labor and state convicts - labored for weeks under government supervision to prevent a breach, but the McCrea levee broke at 3:15 a.m. on May 24, flooding much of Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, Iberville and Assumption Parishes and forcing more than 10,000 residents from their homes. After the floodwaters receded, a new levee was built inland from the old one, curving around the crater created by the break. That body of water has since been known as. [2]
In June 1971, McCrea was the site of a sort of "mini-Woodstock," rock festival. More than 50,000 rock fans from around the nation converged on the hamlet for the "Celebration of Life" rock concert held between the levee and the Atchafalaya River. The concert was billed to last for eight days. In literally a matter of hours, the rock festival more than doubled the population of Pointe Coupee Parish. Rain, the lack of accommodations and sanitary facilities and public outrage at the actions of some of the attendees resulted in the festival ending earlier than scheduled. By its conclusion on the third day over 150,000 people gathered to enjoy the music and the amusing side shows that arrived in a variety of vehicles colorful as though it were a circus parade entering the town. A sight the neighborhood would never again see in a lifetime. Two people drowned in the fast-rushing Atchafalaya River due to a tremendous unannounced current/undertow. In order for a strong swimmer to cross the river they would have been carried 1/4 mile downstream just to reach the other side. Undercover cops made more than 100 drug busts, and one person died from a drug overdose. Some of the acts that were scheduled to play at the concert included: Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Melanie, Boz Scaggs, Brownsville Station, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills & Neil Young, Country Joe McDonald, and John Sebastian. [3] [4] [5]
West Baton Rouge Parish is one of the sixty-four parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,788. The parish seat is Port Allen. The parish was created in 1807.
Pointe Coupee Parish,, is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802. The parish seat is New Roads.
Morganza is an incorporated village near the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 610 at the 2010 census, down from 659 in 2000. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village's zip code is 70759. The Morganza Spillway, a flood control structure between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya Basin, is located nearby.
New Roads is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana was located in New Roads in 2000. The population was 4,831 at the 2010 census, down from 4,966 in 2000. The city's ZIP code is 70760. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major river in the Southern United States. It was named for its reddish water color from passing through red-bed country in its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name. Although once a tributary of the Mississippi River, the Red River is now a tributary of the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi that flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico. This confluence is connected to the Mississippi River by the Old River Control Structure.
Julien de Lallande (Lalande) Poydras was a French American merchant, planter, financier, poet, educator, and political leader who served as Delegate from the Territory of Orleans to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a catalyst in the promotion of Louisiana statehood and helped draft the state's first constitution. He served as the first President of the Louisiana State Senate.
Waterloo is the name of a former town at the upriver juncture of the False River oxbow on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. Founded circa 1820, the community grew as a bustling export center for cotton and sugar cane produced in Pointe Coupee Parish.
The Atchafalaya River is a 137-mile-long (220 km) distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and is the fifth largest river in North America, by discharge. The name Atchafalaya comes from Choctaw for 'long river', from hachcha, 'river', and falaya, 'long'.
Pointe à la Hache is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, the village has been the seat for Plaquemines Parish since the formation of the parish. As of the 2010 census, its population was 187, less than half its 1930 population. It suffered severe damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011.
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area.
Lettsworth is an unincorporated community located in the extreme northern tip of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Mississippi and Red rivers at the Old River Control Structure. As of 2005, the population is 202. The town's zip code is 70753.
Lakeland, is a village in southeastern Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana United States. The area is home to several plantation houses such as Alma and Poydras Plantations.
The Morganza Spillway or Morganza Control Structure is a flood-control structure in the U.S. state of Louisiana along the western bank of the Lower Mississippi River at river mile 280, near Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish. The spillway stands between the Mississippi and the Morganza Floodway, which leads to the Atchafalaya Basin and the Atchafalaya River in south-central Louisiana. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events by flooding the Atchafalaya Basin, including the Atchafalaya River and the Atchafalaya Swamp. The spillway and adjacent levees also help prevent the Mississippi from changing its present course through the major port cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans to a new course down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Morganza Spillway, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was opened during the 1973 and 2011 Mississippi River floods.
Elliot City is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 10th Ward, approximately 6 miles west of Livonia, Louisiana United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30.55614N, 91.66520W, and is covered or partially covered by the current U.S. Route 190 roadway.
East Krotz Springs is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 1st Ward, approximately 12 miles west of Livonia, Louisiana, United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°32'12.87"N, 91°44'24.59"W, and is abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1948 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River at the mouth of Bayou Sherman, directly across from Krotz Springs, south of the railroad bridge.
Torras is the name of a former town in the extreme northeastern corner of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town was located along either side of the Texas & Pacific Railroad at its juncture with Lower Old River. The Mississippi River is located just to the east and the juncture of the Red and Atchafalaya Rivers just to the west.
Point Coupee is the name of an unincorporated community located in Pointe Coupée Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the home of St. Francis Chapel and is located along Louisiana Highway 420, north of New Roads.
Louisiana Highway 975 (LA 975) is a gravel state highway in central Louisiana. It runs north–south for 18.4 miles (29.6 km). The southern terminus is at Whiskey Bay in Iberville Parish, and the northern terminus is east of Krotz Springs at a junction with U.S. Route 190 (US 190) and the north, south LA 973, in Pointe Coupee Parish. The entire route traverses the Sherburne Complex WMA, which is a combined Sherburne WMA, Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, and Bayou Des Ourse, managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The road runs between the Atchafalaya River and Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel on the west and the East Protection Levee on the east.
The Mississippi River floods in April and May 2011 were among the largest and most damaging recorded along the U.S. waterway in the past century, comparable in extent to the major floods of 1927 and 1993. In April 2011, two major storm systems deposited record levels of rainfall on the Mississippi River watershed. When that additional water combined with the springtime snowmelt, the river and many of its tributaries began to swell to record levels by the beginning of May. Areas along the Mississippi itself experiencing flooding included Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Red Cross is a ghost town that was located in Pointe Coupee Parish's 1st Ward, approximately 12 miles west of Morganza, Louisiana, United States. The site of the town itself is located at coordinates 30°32'12.87"N, 91°44'24.59"W, at the intersection of the southern terminus of Louisiana Highway 417 and Louisiana Highway 10. The town is now abandoned. United States Geological Survey maps from 1948 show the town to be located on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River, directly across from Melville, Louisiana, slightly north of the railroad bridge.